shoresofwinterfandomcom-20200214-history
Tal'entylar
Tal'entylar ('City of the Healers' in elven) is a beautiful wood elven city built high in the treetops of Tearwood. However, after generations of war, the city finally fell to Sinjai and his bugbear minions. Most of the elves who survived fled off-Shores, though some still wander the Shores of Winter. The elves of Tal'entylar had a great love for the arts; namely music and painting. Their artistic attitude can be seen in the city itself. In every building and garden the elven feeling for graceful beauty is evident. The most popular place in Tal'entylar was the inn and bath, where elves of all standings gathered to relax and enjoy themselves. Other important sites include the Palace of the Woods with the royal throne room, which is located at the central plaza, and also the temple dedicated to the elven pantheon. Little has changed over the ages in the city's rule and society. Governing is done by a single noble family, from which kings and queens are chosen for life by a gathering of mages, priests and advisers and the family itself. This ensures that only competent rulers are brought to power. In all its ages Tal'entylar has known only wise and caring rulers and very little political schemes or striving for power, as is so often the case in human politics. Tal'entylar's social life was traditional and complex. There were various social circles which were mostly divided by standing and profession. Most elves exclusively kept to their own circle when marrying, and children were taught the profession of their father, which assured that all families stayed within their own social groups. Friendship was also often practised within the own circle, although it was not uncommon to have friends from outside of it. Social behaviour was always very courteous, though within social groups the contact was usually more easygoing than contact between elves from different circles. Background Tal'entylar was founded many thousand years ago by the wood elf commune of the Tearwood Forest. It was to be a safe haven for all elven races of the Shores of Winter, built high up on cliffs and in the branches of several enormous trees where no wild creatures could reach it. That is exactly what it became, and more. It became a city of great beauty where the elves, who with their racial communes had long been fighting for survival on the forest floor, could finally prosper and progress to a peaceful civilisation of art and knowledge. After two millennia of peace, an old or new inhabitant of the forest surfaced to threaten the existence of the elves once more. According to tradition, Sinjai, an enormous dragon filled with greed and violence, arose from the forest and came down upon Tal'entylar without warning. This first encounter was disastrous. Many elves were killed before Sinjai was chased away by the city's powerful wizards and sorcerers. This, however, was only the beginning of a small but lengthy war which lasted for over 600 years. The dragon became more careful. Frightened by the mages, or so the elves believe, he stayed inside his lair for most of the war, letting his bugbear minions do most of the fighting. Even though these armies could not reach the city, they possessed a dangerous weapon: fire. To protect their city as well as the university, the elves built a new stronghold. A fortress placed on a strategical position, which did not allow the bugbears to reach Tal'entylar. This is how the war came to a stalemate which endured for many ages. About 200 years ago, the dragon once again came out of his shelter and attacked the fortress. It was completely destroyed, and nothing is left of it but ruins. However, the dragon was gravely wounded during the battle. This was to be the last battle of the war. Nobody saw or heard from the dragon outside its lair until recent times. One of the great icons of the elven civilisation was the Arcane Academy, founded by Calorith Ma'faril in the later ages of Tal'entylar's prosperous millennia, 941 years ago. Calorith, though still a youngster at the time, was one of the most powerful wizards of the city. He longed for an existence outside of Tal'entylar's increasingly aristocratic and formal social circles. A place where he could gather knowledge and study the arcane in peace. Thus he had his academy built outside of Tal'entylar, and magically warded against the dangers on the forest floor. Initially, Calorith intended his academy to be solely a place of study for him and his fellow wizards, but very soon it became a point of attraction for youngsters from Tal'entylar looking for scholarship, and even elves from outside Tearwood. In present times, the former academy is little more than a magic-infested and overgrown ruin. It is filled with animated objects and undead mages. In the academy's waning days, Calorith suddenly seems to have made a leap into madness. This most probably has been due to the admission of the half-elf Kheldom into the academy about 280 years ago. It was unusual to grant a non-elf admission, but Calorith vouched for the young man and made him his personal apprentice. Kheldom later used his power to cause great havoc, and create magical perversions in search of power. It is possible that Calorith couldn't handle the guilt of having taught and unleashed this power-hungry wizard upon the world. According to oral tradition, he first began forgetting even and primarily the most simple spell combinations. He became increasingly absent during his lectures, and was said to be 'mumbling like a madman'. In the end, he became violent towards his students and began to conduct strange, useless experiments with humanoid races. Eventually he seems to have completely lost his mind, and in his mad rage he killed most of his students and scholars. That was the end of the Academy. Places of interest *'Library' :The library of Tal'entylar is cramped with thousands of old tomes and scrolls. Only elves were allowed entrance, as the queen did not want the knowledge within to fall into the wrong hands. Now it appears to have fallen into the claws of Sinjai. *'Lomelor's blades and bows' *'Nadrion's Magery' :The local magic shop, which was run by the elven wizard Nadrion. *'Palace of the Woods' :The royal palace is located in the centre of the city by the central plaza. *'Tal'entylar Inn and Bath' :The most popular place in Tal'entylar, where elves of all standings used to gather to relax and enjoy themselves. *'Temple of Rillifane Rallathil' Inhabitants *Sinjai the Green Dragon. *Bugbears and goblins. See also * Book of the Tearwood: Elves of Tal'entylar * Book of the Tearwood: Depths of the forest * Screenshots of Tal'entylar Category:South